Grow Op, the Gladstone Hotel’s four-day landscape art and design exhibition, is on until Sunday April 24! As if the 30+ installations on the second floor aren’t enough to make you want to stop by, we’re giving you one more really good reason. On Sunday, we’ll also have our free marketplace, the Gladstone Flea Goes Green from 10-4 pm. Peruse goods from local, ethical, environmentally sustainable makers.

One of our vendors is Darryl Cheng, the Plant Doctor from the hip plant shop Dynasty on Queen West. Got a plant that could use a little love? Visit Darryl, who will dole out tips on replanting, plant care, water requirements and more to get your green thumb back in no time! Here are some of his tips to get you started:

Light

This is the most important factor for happy plants. If you want to be certain about the amount light received by a particular location, you should measure it – just download an app that measures light in foot-candles (the preferred unit for horticulture). People often say the most common cause of plant death is overwatering, but the true issue is excess moisture not being used by the plant due to low light (which means slower use of water). So letting your plant get more light is the better solution to “overwatering” rather than watering less.

Loop by Design Build Grow Studio at Grow Op 2016

Water

If your plant is happy with the amount of light it gets, the next thing to consider is watering. In the most general terms, the proper way to water is to fully saturate the soil so that it is moist but not soggy. Drainage holes prevent excess water from staying in contact with the soil. The time to water varies for every plant – cacti can go weeks with completely dry soil but a peace lily wilts once a few parts of its soil are dry. The time of the season, the daily amount of light, and the humidity all affect how quickly water is used up by the plant.

Different plants prefer different types of soil but the general characteristics are water retention/drainage, nutrients, root oxygenation, and physical anchoring. Without all the insects and worms of the outdoors, our indoor plants will eventually suffer from compacted soil. The result is dry, tight pockets of soil where those roots suffocate and die, causing some corresponding foliage to turn yellow and die. Your house plants need to be aerated occasionally – do this by gently poking and loosening the soil with a chopstick (or other blunt stick).

Photo by Jesse Milns for BlogTO of Terrena by Redux Lab at Grow Op

Air

Plants need to breathe good, fresh air. “Good” air is at the right temperature and humidity for a given plant. For most house plants, as long as we are comfortable, they will be comfortable. Some exceptions include cacti, who prefer dry air, and most thin, leafy tropical plants, who prefer higher humidity. “Fresh” air isn’t necessarily air from outdoors, though it does help. You can prevent air from getting stale around your plants by being around them and talking to them!

Be sure to stop by the Gladstone Flea to meet Darryl and over 15 awesome local vendors! Then check out over 30 thought-provoking works that respond to environmental responsibility and sustainability, public spaces and landscape urbanism on the second floor!

Curious about what humans will be eating in 50 years? 100 years? So are we! With food contributing drastically to global warming, the importance of finding sustainable food sources becomes increasingly urgent. To compliment Grow Op, the Gladstone Hotel’s annual landscape design exhibition from April 21-24, we invite you to our Alternative Food & Drink Show on April 21 from 6-10pm.

For $10, you can sip and savour delicacies from chefs, producers and distillers who are thoughtful about where their ingredients come from, support farmers doing well by the land, source ethical ingredients and are innovative sustainability problem-solvers. Get your tickets here: http://alternativefooddrink.eventbrite.ca/ and read on to see who you’ll be sipping and savouring from:

C-fu FOODSWhere can we get sustainable protein? The answer: insects! Dare to try their tasty and healthy meat replacements at our Alt Food + Drink Show. It’s so good, they’ve even got a new cookbook coming out called ‘Eat Grub’ (all about cooking with insect protein).

RISE Kombucha
Join the Fermented Revolution! RISE kombucha has a slightly sweet and tangy flavour which is created by the synergic action of yeast and beneficial bacteria. This is what transforms the sweet tea into a tonic drink. One with a personality of its own!

Let them eat…crickets! Learn about a new approach to urban agriculture w. Third Millenium Farming. Crickets are nutty, meaty, and sure, a little bit creepy. Founder Jakub Dzamba (a McGill University Ph.D. student) has been developing an at-home cricket farm for the commercial market–and the best part? It could become a viable solution for for nourishing our growing population and solving food inequalities around the world!

Beer brewed by the people for the people! People’s Pint believes that some of the best beers being brewed in Ontario are being made in homes across the province. They bring talented brewers together for Small Batch Events around the city and will have 3 different types of beer on offer. Cheers to that!

Monforte Dairy is keeping it old school! In a world of over processed foods, we like it that way! So much so, we feature Montforte Dairy products whenever we can on our seasonally-inspired menus. Sample them at the Alt Food Fair and taste the goodness.

Chick-a-biddy Acres operates on a 72 acre farm near Peterborough, in the beautiful Trent Hills. It is surrounded by lush pastures, dairy farms, woods and many rivers. The area is largely free of big scale mono-crop farming which ensures clean and relatively pesticide free surroundings.

While many of the pieces bring the outdoors in, Victoria Taylor and Deena Delzotto are reimagining our Green Roof this year into a hospitality haven for migrating birds and wildlife. From our hotel rooms, to dining areas and event spaces, Perch Here mirrors the hospitable experience for creatures of the open air. We sat down with the brilliant Victoria Taylor to learn more about her vision for Grow Op and Perch Here.

Victoria Taylor and Deena Delzotto on Installation Day

Why did you decide to work with the green roof space for ‘Perch Here’?

I’ve always been interested in roofs as potential spaces for public art. As a landscape architect, I was drawn to the challenge of making the Gladstone’s green roof work better. My collaborator Deena DelZotto works in urban agriculture with Bowery Project so she was also interested in what we could accomplish within the context of Grow Op.

What was the first step when you were looking for ways to improve the design?

We began by using the metaphor of hospitality. We wanted the green roof to reflect the hospitality that happens within the Gladstone Hotel. What the Gladstone offers to their guests, in terms of food, shelter and comfort, we wanted to give to the species who visit the green roof. It’s currently a flat monoculture that doesn’t offer much in the way of habitat. Through design, our piece will literally encourage birds to ‘Perch Here’ through interesting branch structures. We will also put out seed to feed the guests, in the hopes that they will be a catalyst for more biodiversity to the green roof.

What was your goal when you first started Grow Op?

I wanted to bring other disciplines to the dialogue of landscape design and connect the design community to the conversation. Grow Op shows that it’s not just landscape architects who can have an opinion about landscapes. The show attracts farmers, artists, illustrators, painters, makers and more to push their own creative process and provoke Grow Op visitors to ask question like: “Why are the streets designed like that? Why do our sidewalks look like that? Can this be done better?” When these ideas get filtered through the various interdisciplinary lenses, new ideas emerge.

The Green Roof from the third floor, Before Deena and Victoria turned it into a hospitality haven for birds.

What do you hope guests will feel and experience when they see your installation and the other 30+ works?

I hope people will be turned on in a different way. Whether it’s through humour, a visual, a structure they become immersed in, I want guests to walk through the door thinking one thing and leave thinking about something else. To ask new questions. To question our role in urban life.

Hey birds! Perch here!

This piece will be up for six months. Stay tuned to watch the progression as Perch Here uses birds as a catalyst for bringing seeds to germinate on the roof to enhance biodiversity during the growing season. Part of this project has been made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council. Perch Here also thanks Ecoman Landscape Contractor and Bird Studies Canada for their support.

Don’t be fooled—this isn’t your typical garden show. Just in time for Spring and Earth Day, the Gladstone Hotel presents Grow Op, a four-day landscape art + design exhibition from April 21-24. More than 30 artists will transform the hotel’s second floor with immersive installations that take on urbanism, landscape design, the environment and contemporary art. Think Come Up to My Room meets Allan Gardens.

Take Little Pharm by artist Kara Stone. The installation consists of different herbs and flowers planted into the artists old anti-depressant bottles collected over three years. It’s an experiment to see which plants sprout and grow, which plants die, and which never even surface. The piece reflects the uncertainty surrounding neurotargeting drugs yet the possibility of prevailing. We interviewed the artist to find out more about her thought-provoking installation.

Did you know you would repurpose the prescription bottles some day?

I don’t know why I kept them. I’m sure I threw out some and lost some, but most of the time when I finished a bottle I would stuff it in the drawer by my bed. There was emotion attached to them. It’s very hard to take medication. It’s hard to first admit to another human being, even a doctor, that you’re in pain, you’re scared, and you need help. Then it’s hard to make the decision to go on medication. There are so many beliefs and prejudices about those who take medication for mental illness, many internalized. It is often seen as a sign of weakness to take medication, whereas not “needing” to take medication is a strength. There’s fear of over-prescribing or over-medicating, of losing your personality or creativity. The decision to take medication isn’t just made that one time with a doctor or therapist, it’s every day, every morning, opening the bottle and looking at the little white pill. This is mirrored in the creation of Little Pharm, where I have to attend to the plants and take care of them. It’s hard to remember to take it. It’s hard to deal with the side effects. And it’s very hard to talk to other people about it. I struggled, and still struggle, with being open about my mental health. Keeping the bottles made me remember that it’s a huge part of my life and not going to go away, I have to learn how to carry it with me everywhere.

Little Pharm takes on big ticket items like health, the pharmaceutical industry and confronting natural vs. unnatural. Tell us more about this powerful message.

There is so much conflicting rhetoric about mental illness and its “naturalness.” There’s the stereotype of the artist who needs their pain to be able to know and express deep shit, or that those with mental illness are more tapped into the natural world or spirituality. Then there is the bio-medicalization of mental health that categorizes an array of feelings and locates them solely in the brain, rather than the assemblage of the body, interpersonal relationships, or cultural context. The different understandings of mental illness translate into different beliefs on the best way to heal, manage, or “cure.” Theoretically, being on medication was really hard for me. I’m super into natural healing, anti-capitalism, DIY culture, yoga, spirituality. I’m scared of the pharmaceutical industry and what is actually in the drugs we take. I’m against framing mental illness within the individual and not a collective political issue. But when I first went on medication, it felt like I had two choices: take medication or die. And that’s the reality for so many people. There are so few options available and accessible. It’s easier to get medication than it is to get a therapist. Little Pharm became an expression of my own confused stance, of how I felt pulled in two opposing directions with judgment from both sides. I also made a video game about this living this dichotomy called Medication Meditation that shows how these differing approaches work uneasily together, from taking medication at the right time to meditating and paying attention to physical experiences.

Having CAMH down the street, discussions around mental health have more visibility. Does the neighbourhood’s history lend anything to your work?

I’m from Toronto and have seen CAMH transform from something people were scared of to something that people are proud of. The stigma against those with mental illness is lessening and that’s great to see, even if we have a long way to go. More people are realizing that we’re not dangerous or a threat to other people – we’re so much more likely to hurt ourselves and it’s a serious crisis. I’ve found that the more open I am about my feelings and experiences, the more open people are with me. I have friends who work at CAMH, friends who have spent time there, visited friends and family there. I’ve done work with TIFF’s Reel Comfort, an outreach group that brings the arts and entertainment to Toronto hospital psychiatric units. Mental health should be in the public sphere rather than something to be hidden away, both on a personal level for me and on a social political one.

What have you learned about yourself through the process of repurposing the bottles in a new way?

I’ve learned that I can be overly attached to material objects. I’ve also learned that I’m not very good at taking care of plants. The lesson I’ve really took from creating Little Pharm is to not be overly attached to results. Let go of the fear of uncertainty and just try it out. I was scared to go on medication then I was scared to go off because I didn’t know what would happen. I often feel like a really scared, fearful person, so approaching things with curiosity and an element of experimentation has become a valuable directive. I can’t wholly control how well the plants grow and what the final result will look like, but instead of being worried, I try to be curious to see what happens.

What can guests expect to feel, think and experience when they see your work?

I have no idea! I’m excited to hear what people feel about it/from it. Part of what will influence that is how the plants grow. If they all have sprouted and are green and lush, I think it’ll seem like a really positive take on mental illness, or a completely anti-Big Pharm, pro-natural healing piece. If many are dead, it might seem more cynical than it is. It’s one of my favourite things about making any art piece though, not knowing exactly how it will turn out. I’ve just recently planted the bottles for the Grow Op show so I look forward to watching which plants grow and which don’t.

Kara Stone is an art-maker creating videogames, interactive art and traditional crafts. She achieved an MA in Communication and Culture at a joint program at York and Ryerson University, focusing on mental health, affect, feminism, and videogames. Her work has been featured in Vice, Wired, The Atlantic, and NPR. It consists of feminist art with a focus on gendered perspectives of affect – but it’s much more fun than it sounds. Visit Kara Stone’s website, Twitter and Instagram.

Be sure to see Little Pharm and over 30 other compelling art installations from April 21-24. RSVP here!

This Saturday March 19, Mill Street asks you to join us for Earth Hour in the Melody Bar. We’re turning the lights down real low to present an intimate acoustic show with Sean Pinchin over candlelight and tasty suds! There’s no cover and 50 cents of every pint sold will be donated to Earth Day Canada. Stop by at 8:30pm!

What you might not know, is that we’re committed to environmental stewardship all year round at the Gladstone Hotel. From the tops of our green roofs to the fields of our local food-providers, we take our environmental policies and initiatives seriously. Hotel’s are notorious for checking important values at the door—but not us.

Here are 11 ways we work diligently to reduce our environmental impact and aim to be an industry leader in sustainable hotel practices:

1. Every spring, we host Grow Op, a four day art exhibition featuring over 30 thought-provoking works that respond to environmental responsibility and sustainability, public spaces and landscape urbanism from the condo balcony to the public square and territories beyond. Stop by to from April 21-24 to see the evocative, inspiring exhibition!

2. We have been audited by Jennifer Wright of Green Shift on an on-going since 2003. Green stamp of approval? Check!

3. You won’t find plastic bottles in this hotel! Since stopping this practice in 2007, we have saved over 100,000 bottles from landfill (and that’s a conservative estimate).

4. We are committed to using green products for the cleaning and maintenance of the building.

5. The Gladstone Hotel’s recycling and composting program is state of the art. No silly waste, here!

7. We encourage guests to use the TTC by offering Toronto Public Transit Day Passes and free Transit maps at the front desk. Guests also have access to bicycles in nice weather with lots of stands outside to lock ’em up.

8. We encourage guests to re-use towels and sources laundry services from a provider with a green program.

9. We have not one but two green roofs which are not only awesome, but help enormously with storm run off and preventing floods.

10. Our soaps and shampoos are made by a local farmer in Prince Edward County and if they’re gently used and left behind, they are donated to the homeless.

11. Each room has heating and cooling systems controlled by the guest. This means energy is not wasted on vacancies and in general — but can cater to the comfort of guests in an energy-efficient fashion.

To read more about our environmental initiatives, check out our green policy on the website! We hope you’ll join us for our Earth Hour celebration with Mill Street on Saturday, March 19!

Nomadic Vision Studio (Claire Kurtin, Nadia Pulez and Ramin Yamin) was formed in 2014 as a collective of current masters students from the University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Kurtin, Pulez and Yamin are in their second year of the Maters of Architecture program.

Flore Synthetica explores the notion of artificiality and landscape through a contradictory sensory experience. A natural environment is invoked through scent and juxtaposed with artificial flora media, creating an immersive experience. This encourages the viewer to re-imagine the relationship between the natural world and the designed world. Flore Synthetica aims to evoke memory by painting a picture with scent on the white canvas of the space.

Gladstone Hotel is pleased to announce the 3rd annualGladstone Grow Op, a five day exhibition celebrating innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art and place making under the theme: culture of landscape. Grow Op 2015 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum across a broad range of creative practices within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. Grow Op, as one of the most intriguing annual exhibitions in Toronto, encourages a wide range of perspectives and dialogues around landscape and place; challenging our understanding of nature and the built environment around us. #GROWOP2015

Garden Variety Relationships. Ecoman is a landscaping & gardening practice shaping residential spaces of all sizes.We’ve got a thing for working with nature. Healthy soil, plants and people are essential elements of a landscape that gives back.

BANAL celebrates the value of everyday elements of the landscape and the people who create surprising meaning out of ordinary spaces. The audio/visual stories of BANAL provide the context for an evolving participatory performance over a prerecorded sample of the sounds of the city.

Gladstone Hotel is pleased to announce the 3rd annualGladstone Grow Op, a five day exhibition celebrating innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art and place making under the theme: culture of landscape. Grow Op 2015 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum across a broad range of creative practices within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. Grow Op, as one of the most intriguing annual exhibitions in Toronto, encourages a wide range of perspectives and dialogues around landscape and place; challenging our understanding of nature and the built environment around us. #GROWOP2015

Julie Bogdanowicz is an architect with a background in urban geography and environmental studies. She currently works for the City of Toronto in Urban Design after having practiced architecture for several years in Vancouver, New York and Toronto. Julie is a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design where she teaches studio design and a history-theory course on urban landscape.

In rural areas with disobedient, impenetrable soil, a strange phenomenon appears: every house has a mound. These are septic systems that do their work above ground. Bridging architecture, landscape architecture, geography, biology and infrastructure, they are a landscape expression of the soil volume required to treat waste: the bigger the house, the bigger the mound.

Gladstone Hotel is pleased to announce the 3rd annualGladstone Grow Op, a five day exhibition celebrating innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art and place making under the theme: culture of landscape. Grow Op 2015 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum across a broad range of creative practices within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. Grow Op, as one of the most intriguing annual exhibitions in Toronto, encourages a wide range of perspectives and dialogues around landscape and place; challenging our understanding of nature and the built environment around us. #GROWOP2015

Paul Chartrand works primarily in sculpture with living, found and constructed elements and is focused on the complex relationship between culture and the environment. He views his works including live plants, insects and fungi as a collaborative effort with these lifeforms. Paul lives and works in Dunnville, Ontario.

Both the social aspect of tea drinking and the ephemeral beauty of plant growth are inspirations for a functional hydroponic garden table. Herbs grown inside the table will be brewed and shared in a communal act of tea drinking, alongside discussions regarding the ecological and social implications of consuming tea.

Gladstone Hotel is pleased to announce the 3rd annualGladstone Grow Op, a five day exhibition celebrating innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art and place making under the theme: culture of landscape. Grow Op 2015 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum across a broad range of creative practices within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. Grow Op, as one of the most intriguing annual exhibitions in Toronto, encourages a wide range of perspectives and dialogues around landscape and place; challenging our understanding of nature and the built environment around us. #GROWOP2015

Rebecca Houston’s practice engages with kinetic and interactive experiences of sculpture. Rebecca has also worked in the community arts for 20 years, with SKETCH Working Arts for Street Involved and Homeless Youth, Frontier College Beat the Street and The South Riverdale Community Development Institute. She is currently completing her MFA at York University.

Cut Twice is a collection of jointed, kinetic building blocks made from reclaimed and new 2×4’s; matter that has refused to be refuse. The persistence of matter and the insistence that life will go on, that garbage will not go away are both celebrated and lamented as a demented pile of reaching, writhing and stressed-out lumber grows and undulates through the hotel’s public space.

Gladstone Hotel is pleased to announce the 3rd annualGladstone Grow Op, a five day exhibition celebrating innovative ideas and conceptual responses to landscape, gardens, art and place making under the theme: culture of landscape. Grow Op 2015 will facilitate a cross-disciplinary forum across a broad range of creative practices within the vibrant setting of Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. Grow Op, as one of the most intriguing annual exhibitions in Toronto, encourages a wide range of perspectives and dialogues around landscape and place; challenging our understanding of nature and the built environment around us. #GROWOP2015